The UFC continues to shorten its roster, as it was announced yesterday. Five more fighters have now parted way with the company.
Although it may not be considered “released,” all five athlete’s contracts had run out, and the organisation decided not to renew the following athletes. MMA Junkie was the first to report the news.
Livia Souza (14-4)
Livia Souza’s time with the promotion comes to a close after a six-fight stint, dating back to her debut in 2018. Souza entered the promotion with a bang winning her first two bouts against Alex Chambers and Sarah Frota. However, since then has had one victory from her four outings. Her final bout with the promotion saw “The Brazilian Gangster” drop a unanimous decision loss to Randa Markos.
Laureano Staropoli (9-5)
The Argentinian joined the UFC in 2018 as a genuine prospect and recorded two unanimous decision wins over Hector Aldana and Thiago Alves. Suddenly the tide turned as “Pepi” failed to pick up a victory in his last four fights, leaving him with a (9-5) record and in search of a new home.
Andrew Sanchez (12-7)
Once a TUF 23 winner, Andrew Sanchez had some early success in his UFC career with wins over Markus Perez and Marc-André Barriault, but as of late has found himself in a tricky situation. Sanchez recently fought at UFC Vegas 40, where he found himself on his second consecutive stoppage loss when defeated by Bruno Silva.
Teemu Packalen (12-3)
Finland’s Teemu Packalén’s release came as no surprise as he recently announced his retirement from Mixed Martial Arts competition. The decision came as a fear of suffering another knockout loss. Packalén suffered back-to-back first-round losses to Marc Diakiese and Ottman Azaitar in his most recent outings.
Randa Markos (11-11-1)
Randa Markos recently broke her four-fight skid at UFC Vegas 41 with a unanimous decision win over Livia Souza. Unforltnyly for Markos, it didn’t quite seem to be enough to keep her on the UFC roster.
What do you think of the UFC recent cuts?
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Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
